Sunak appoints unity Cabinet as Hunt stays and Braverman returns

By Stefan Boscia

Jeremy Hunt will remain as chancellor under Rishi Sunak as the new Prime Minister picked a top team which finely balanced the different wings of the Tory party.

Hunt is expected to deliver the planned Halloween fiscal statement next Monday, which is set to include a series of tax hikes and spending cuts.

Close Boris Johnson ally James Cleverly was reappointed as foreign secretary, while Right-winger Suella Braverman is sensationally back in as home secretary, after being sacked from by Truss from the role last week for a sharing department documents with a Tory backbencher.

It is believed Braverman struck a deal with Sunak to get her old job back in exchange for her Tory leadership endorsement.

Dominic Raab was made Deputy Prime Minister and justice secretary – a dual role he held under Boris Johnson – while Michael Gove was brought back as levelling up and housing secretary, after a short spell on the backbenches under Liz Truss.

Ben Wallace, a close ally of Boris Johnson, has also been re-appointed as defence secretary, Grant Shapps has been made business secretary and Sunak’s leadership rival Penny Mordaunt has been re-appointed as leader of the House of Commons.

Nadhim Zahawi has been kept in Cabinet, but demoted to party chair, and Oliver Dowden is now Cabinet Office minister and chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.

Jacob Rees-Mogg was forced to leave as business secretary earlier this afternoon and was the first of a series of major Truss allies to be removed from Cabinet.

Fellow Boris Johnson and Truss allies Brandon Lewis and Simon Clarke have also been sacked.

Kit Malthouse and Ranil Jayawardena are out as education secretary and environment secretary respectively, while Jake Berry is no longer Tory party chair.

Chloe Smith has also been removed as work and pensions secretary, while Alok Sharma has been let go from the Cabinet Office, but will still represent Britain at the COP27 summit in Egypt.

Who’s in?

Who’s staying?

Who’s out?

Rees-Mogg earlier today told The Telegraph that he would be willing to serve under Sunak, after previously calling him a “socialist” and criticising his record as chancellor.

It was expected that the Prime Minister would have sacked Rees-Mogg if he had not quit.

Sunak delivered his first speech as Prime Minister in front of Number 10 this afternoon, promising to fix the “mistakes” that were made by his predecessor.

He is expected to keep Jeremy Hunt as chancellor, however not many other MPs are likely to retain their place in cabinet.

There is speculation that Sunak will appoint campaign supporters Dominic Raab, Steve Barclay and Mel Stride to senior Cabinet roles.

Sunak yesterday said he would appoint a Cabinet of “all talents”, suggesting that several Johnson allies and people from the right of the party will be brought into his top team.

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